Apparatus for unloading hay, &amp;c.



PATENTED' MAY 10, 1904.

No. 759,421. J. A; GROSS.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING HAY, 6w.

APPLICATION II-LED JAN. 26, 1904.

UNITED STATES Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING HAY, &.o.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 759,421 dated May 10,1904.

Application filed January 26, 1904- Serial No. 190,686. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JEROME A. CROSS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fulton- .ville, in the county of Montgomery and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forUnloading Hay, &c.; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus forunloading hay, grain, &c.; and theobject of the invention is to producean extensible track which is adapted to project through an opening in abuilding and afford suitable means supporting hoisting mechanism,whereby hay or other commodities may be raised and conveyed to astationary track inside the building, the extensible mechanism being soarranged that when desired the same may be swung into the building undershelter, thus leaving no parts of the apparatus exposed to the elementsand dispensing with the projecting hoisting supports which are atpresent commonly employed and which frequently become impaired andnecessitate replacing.

More specifically, my invention comprises an extensible track, which ishinged to a permanent track supported by suitable hangers within thebuilding and so arranged that when it is desired to adapt the apparatusfor use the extensible track may be hoisted so that one end thereof willproject through an opening in the building, and when thus ad justed theextensible portion of the track will be in alinement and continuous withthe stationary track.

My invention consists,further, in various details of construction and incombinations and arrangements of parts which will be hereinafter fullydescribed and then specifically defined in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which with theletters of reference marked thereon form a part of this application andin which drawings similar letters of reference indicate like parts inthe several views, in which- Figure 1 is averticalsectional view througha portion of a building, showing my extensible track in elevation insolid lines and in operative position and dotted lines in the positionit assumes when drawn within the building. Fig. 2 is a perspective viewshowing the hinged connection between the extensible track and thestationary track. Fig. 3 is a detail View of a clevis member.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter,Adesignates the beam, which may be of any suitable material and supportedby cross-pieces B within the building and which is provided forsupporting the stationary track C. Said track has eyebolts D passingthrough the same and nuts D, carried upon the threaded shank portion ofsaid eyebolts, which engage the stationary track 0 upon its upper andlower faces, while the eyes of said bolts engage the eyes E of thescrews E, which pass into and engage the beams A. Mounted adjacent tothe end of the stationary track is a yoke member F, which is held to thesupporting-beam A by means of a clevis member K, and the arms F of saidyoke are adapted to overhang the opposite faces of the track U and aresecured thereto by means of bolts or any other suitable fastening means,as shown clearly in the detail view of the drawings. A portion of eacharm of said yoke projects beyond the end of the track and is adapted toreceive the end of the extensible track H when the latter is hoisted toa horizontal position in alinement with the fixed track in readiness tosupport the hoisting apparatus. Said extensible track H has a yoke N,the arms of which pass through the track and are held by means of thenuts 1 and pivotally mounted on a pin 0, carried by said yoke member, isa clevis member O,,which is adapted when the extensible track is hoistedto a horizontal position to engage over a hook Q, which is integral withthe plate or bar Q, fastened, by means of bolts q, to the cross-piece I,which is fastened to the building, (designated in the drawings by letterJ.) The upper end of the plate or bar Q is bent to form a hook Q uponwhich a sheave or pulley R is supported. A rope M is fastened at one endto the brace-rod H, which has an eye at its outer end engaged by a bolt71/, passing through the extensible track, while its inner end h is bentat an angle and passes through the inner end of the track and is engagedby a nut mounted upon the threaded end of said rod. By the provision ofsaid rod H the strain coming upon the extensible track will be equalizedand means afiorded whereby the track may be raised or lowered by powerapplied to the rope M, which passes over the sheave or pulley R.

In order to facilitate the engagement or the disengagement of the clevisO with the hook Q, without the necessity of an operator going above, Iprovide an eye Q which is made integral with said clevis member andthrough which the hoisting-rope M passes, whereby as the track ishoisted the clevis will be held by the rope passing through the eyeintegral with the clevis adjacent to said hook, and by simplemanipulation of' the hoisting-rope by the operator said clevis may beeasily caught over the hook and the extensible track held in anoperative or working position. When it is desired to disengage theclevis from the hook, the extensible track is hoisted a slight distanceto allow the clevis to clear the hook, and bymanipulation of thehoisting-rope the clevis may be swung clear of the hook and theextensible track allowed to fall by gravity to assume the position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The inner end of the extensible track is bolted or otherwise secured tothe hinge 'I, one portion of which is fastened by suitable means to theend of the fixed track, and when the extensible track is raised to aposition in alinement with the fixed track the arms of the yoke F willengage over the meeting ends of the fixed and extensible tracks andallow any suitable carriage to pass back and forth over the hinged endsof the tracks without any interference.

By the provision of my improved apparatus, it will be observed that asimple and efiicient means is provided for holding an extensible trackin an extended and operative position projecting through an opening inthe building and affording a support for hoisting mechanism forunloading any commodity and transferring the same to the fixed track,and by the provision of the apparatus embodied in my invention theextensible track may be easily and quickly withdrawn into the building,thus preventing the subject-ion of the apparatus to.

the action of the elements.

WVhile I have shown a particular construction of extensible-trackapparatus embodying the features of my invention, it will be understoodthat I may make alterations in the detailed construction of the device,if found desirable, to meet various conditions Without in any waydeparting from the spirit of the 5 invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a fixed track mounted within a building, anextensible track having hinged connection with the stationary track,means for raising said hinged track into alinement with the stationarytrack, and mechanism for supporting the extensible track in its workingposition, with one end thereof projecting through an opening in abuilding, as set forth.

2. In combination with a fixed track mounted within a building, anextensible track hinged to said fixed track, afixed supporting-bracket,a yoke carried by the track, and means for hoisting the extensible trackinto alinement with the fixed track, and mechanism connecting said yokewith said bracketarm, whereby the extensible track may be supported in aworking position with one end thereof projecting through an opening inthe building, as set forth.

3. In combination with a fixed track held within a building, anextensible track hinged to said fixed track, a yoke carried by saidtrack, a clevis pivotally connected to said yoke, a sheave and means forsupporting the same, a fixed hook, a hoisting-rope passing about saidsheave, and connections between the same and said extensible trackwhereby the latter may be hoisted into alinement with the fixed trackand said clevis brought into engagement with said hook, whereby theextensible track may be held in a working position with one endprojecting through an opening in the building, as set forth.-

4:. In combination with a fixed track mounted within a building,anextensible track hinged to said fixed track, a stationary bracket-hook,a yoke secured to the extensible track, a clevis pivotally connected tosaid yoke, an eye projecting. from said clevis, a sheave supported abovesaid bracket-hook, a rope with connections between the same and saidextensible track, and adapted to pass through said eye upon the clevis,as set forth.

5. In combination with a fixed track, a yoke member secured to the endthereof, and means for supporting the same, the arms of said yokeprojecting beyond the ends of the fixed track, an extensible trackhinged to the end of said fixed track, and means for raising theextensible track into alinement with the fixed track with saidyoke-armsprojecting over the meeting ends of the two tracks, andsupporting mechanism for holding the extensible track in a raisedposition, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JEROME A. CROSS.

W'itnesses:

WM. W. FURBECK, WM. B. FooDY.

